Chronicles of Beacon: Provenance
by AKBrothers
Summary: An unlikely band of teens on a journey to become Huntsmen and Huntresses at the esteemed combat school known as Beacon Academy, including all of life's little adventures along the way. (OC AU)
1. A New Beginning

**A/N: Do not own RWBY nor is any money being made off of this story. This AU runs in parallel to the original story with some similarities, however there are notable differences. Though this is an OC story, no OC will be shipped with canon characters. This is a first time story and feedback is welcome, both good and bad. Rude comments or anything similar will be ignored. Hope you enjoy =)**

A tall blond male in a black studded leather coat, black fingerless gloves, and blue jeans with a silver chain strung through a few belt loops sits in a dark room at a table. The only light source being an overhead light that wasn't very bright. A silver haired man with dark glasses and black suit with a green shirt walks in and sits opposite of him.

"Finally! I've been waiting for hours to be interrogated," Riktor exclaims loudly.

"You've only been here for twenty minutes," The man informs him.

"Same thing," Riktor jokes smugly, not really caring.

"I'm gathering you don't know who I am?" the man asks confidently.

"The cops?" Riktor asks curiously.

"No, my name is Ozpin and I'm the Headmaster at Beacon. I'm assuming you've heard of it?" Ozpin asks and Riktor silently nods. "Good, I heard about the fight with the Crimson Skull," Riktor simply looks away at the mention of the name. "You seem like you have the potential I'm looking for in my students. But just so you're aware, there are plenty of Faunus that attend my school and I will not tolerate any behaviour that the Crimson Skull deemed just," explains Ozpin with a stern look. Riktor pulls his left arm out of his jacket to reveal a large patch of burnt skin on his shoulder.

"This is where my gang tattoo was. I have a similar mark on my back," he informs Ozpin and puts his jacket back on. Ozpin understands the message and rises from his chair.

"I'll let the authorities know you've been released into my care and you'll gain entrance into my school and hopefully a better life." With a small smile on his face, Ozpin walks out the door.

* * *

Riktor stands at the observation window of the transport taking him to Beacon. He watches the cityscape pass by and his thoughts slowly drift to a friend he lost just a few weeks back. He looks down and slides the sleeve back to reveal the fresh black tattoo with the name "Carlyle" written on his right forearm.

_I should've stopped them… I'm so sorry, _he thinks to himself and lets out a loud sigh before letting his sleeve slide back down. Someone pops up to the left of him to excitedly stare out the window.

"Wow! That's so cool!" a kid in an orange cloak gushes excitedly as the transport draws near to their destination. Riktor looks down at him noticing he looks a little younger than everyone else on the transport.

"Are you even old enough to be on this ship, kid?" he questions the excited kid. The young boy jumps at the sound of a voice, looking to see the biker who had asked him a question.

"Uh! Yeah, of course I am," the kid quickly responds, trying to cover up his childlike excitement. The biker chuckles at the response and the orange clad kid looks slightly confused. "What's so funny?" he asks him curiously.

"It's just that you look like you're twelve, is all," the blond replies, still chuckling.

"I'm fifteen!" the kid barks back at him.

"Wow! Sorry, Short-stack! I didn't mean to offend you," he replies, trying to calm him down. "I'm Riktor by the way," he says, holding out his hand.

"Spencer," the smaller kid replies and shakes Riktor's hand.

"Hey, Spence? This guy isn't bugging you, is he?" A blonde haired girl in a brown leather jacket walks up behind them and asks.

"Yang, I can take care of myself, you know!" Spencer yells at the girl in frustration.

"Just looking out for my little brother, that's all," Yang states with a laugh and messes up Spencer's hair. Spencer scowls at Yang through his messed up hair as Riktor looks from him to the blonde girl a few times.

"She's your sister?" he asks shocked. "Hi. Riktor Ivory, friends call me Earthquake. Maybe we could start some tremors of our own?" He flashes her a big smile and puts his arm around the blonde girl. Yang rolls her eyes at him and groans before walking away, muttering something about idiot guys. Riktor can't help but think he had seen her before.

"I wouldn't make her angry if I were you," Spencer chuckles as Riktor is given the cold shoulder by his older sister.

"Is she the 'scary when she's angry' type?" Riktor asks him, slightly worried about what he might have gotten himself into.

"Yeah, big time," Spencer laughs. "Don't worry though, she wouldn't beat you up over a sad pick-up line," he reassures Riktor.

"Sad pick-up line?" Riktor questions, sounding a little insulted.

"Don't act like it wasn't. Besides, bad boy charm doesn't work on her," Spencer states.

"Things are going to be tougher than I thought," Riktor jokes, crossing his arms and looks back out the window. "So, how does a fifteen-year-old get into Beacon?" Riktor asks after a few seconds of silences.

"Special recommendation from my Uncle," Spencer replies with a smile.

"Your Uncle must know Ozpin if he could persuade him to let you in early," Riktor states in a surprised tone.

"I think he does, but he never said anything about it," Spencer replies, sounding a little distant. The TV screens throughout the ship change and a blonde woman appears and begins to speak, welcoming everyone to Beacon.

"Wow! Now that is a beautiful woman," Riktor comments, quite stunned.

"What's with you and girls, dude?" the younger boy enquires, looking up at him, quite confused.

"You'll understand when you're older, shorty," he snickers and ruffles Spencer's hair like Yang had. Spencer growls at Riktor while fixing his hair, which makes him laugh more. The transport docks and everyone exits and heads for the tall building in front of them.

"Well Spencer, it was nice meeting you, but I'll let you get back to your sister," Riktor waves and starts to head off. "And if you ever need someone's ass kicked, just ask!" Riktor calls back.

"I don't need your help to fight!" Spencer retaliates.

"I was trying to say I had your back," Riktor states, waving, and turns back around. Spencer feels a bit guilty for acting like he did. Being his size and his age, a lot of people tend to underestimate him and get overprotective.

_Maybe he was genuinely trying to be nice, _Spencer thinks to himself. Yang appears behind Spencer along with Ruby, Spencer's twin sister.

"Hey pip squeak, where's that annoying friend of yours?" Yang asks him, lightly punching him in the arm.

"We aren't really friends, and he probably went off to find his friends that are already here," Spencer informs her, rubbing his arm where she punched him.

"It's hard to make friends, but I'm sure he couldn't be that bad if you were talking to him, right?" the short dark haired girl tries to defend her brother's choice in friends.

"I've met guys like him Ruby, and they're trouble. I'd rather Spencer not get mixed up into it," Yang retorts.

* * *

Inside the orientation hall, the first year students gather to await the start of their orientation. Riktor walks in and looks around at all the people and their weapons. Riktor sighs as he slowly wonders around, realizing he doesn't know anyone. All his "friends" had been put in jail or the morgue, all thanks to him, which didn't really bother him. Still looking around, he notices a cute girl with long blonde hair pulled back into a single ponytail and a long white coat. She has a thick brown book in her arms and a sword hanging off her belt. She notices him staring at her. He flashes her his best smile and winks. The girl just turns, without showing any emotion, and walks away.

_Did I seriously lose my mojo on the trip over here, or are girls here strange? Maybe Short-stack was right about my bad boy charm. I need to change my attitude since I am trying get away from that life style, _he questions to himself.

"I'm surprised you're not with your friends," a familiar voice says from behind Riktor.

"Huh? Spencer?" Riktor is shocked when he turns around to see him standing there without his sisters.

"Of course I'm here, and you didn't answer my question," Spencer redirects the conversation. Riktor glances down at his right arm and looks back at Spencer.

"I uh… I don't have any friends," Riktor replies sadly.

"Am I chopped liver or something?" Spencer remarks sarcastically, catching him off guard.

"I didn't think you considered me a friend," Riktor states in a surprised tone.

"Well you did say you had my back, so that obviously meant you considered me a friend, right?" Spencer points out.

"I was trying to be a nice guy, it's not exactly my strong suit," Riktor states.

"Well, school is a good place to get better at it," Spencer comments.

"So how come you're not with your sister?" Riktor asks as he chuckles lightly at Spencer's previous comment.

"Firstly it's sisters, with an 's'. I have two of them. Yang ditched to find some of her friends and Rubes managed to get on the bad side of some snob and then blew herself up. Figured I could fare better on my own," Spencer chuckles a bit, seeing Riktor's reaction to his story.

"She blew herself up? Is she ok?" he asks, a bit shocked at what he had just heard.

"Pfff, it was a minor dust explosion. No biggie, besides we've been through worse while training," Spencer laughs as he explains. Riktor stares at the boy, unable to tell if he is telling the truth or not. It's then that Ozpin, the headmaster, and the blonde woman who had introduced herself on the flight as Glynda Goodwitch appear on stage and begin talking about Beacon and what the goal of the school is.

* * *

Later that evening, all the first year students are gathered in one large hall and have changed into some kind of pyjamas so they can spend the night there until morning. Spencer and Ruby are arguing over who has whose slippers, though both pairs look identical.

"Ruby, give me my slippers!" Spencer screams at his sister.

"These are mine. Yours had the burn mark on the left edge of the right one," The girl explains.

"Exactly, that's those ones. This pair has a slice beside the toe from when you almost cut your foot off with Crescent Rose," he shouts back and takes the pair of slippers from Ruby's hands.

"Stop it, give them back!" Ruby yells as she tackles Spencer, sending a slipper flying across the hall.

"Now look what you've done," Spencer cries out.

Riktor takes a look around the room, noticing all the cute girls walking around. Something hits him in the side of the head. He grumbles and looks down to see it is a single slipper. He grabs it and tosses it in the direction he thinks it came from, without looking.

"Ow! Riktor, what the heck!?" he hears Spencer call out from across the room.

"That's it, punk! You're going down!" Yang gets to her feet and throws her gauntlets on.

"Oh, shit! I remember you from Junior's club a few days ago!" He exclaims and quickly scrambles to his feet.

"Why don't I re-enact that night on your face?" she growls, and sprints towards him. Riktor begins running around the room with Yang hot on his trail, cursing at him.

"Yang! I can fight my own battles!" Spencer groans at his older sister.

"Haha, you're funny when you're mad at Yang," Ruby chuckles at him as she stares at her annoyed twin.

"It's not funny, Ruby!" Spencer retorts, stomping his foot on the ground, then lunging at Ruby for laughing, starting another fight between the two. Riktor trips over the feet of the quiet blonde girl who had ignored his smile earlier. She had been unaware of the fight until then due to her noise cancelling headphones.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" She squeaks in surprise as Riktor tumbles to the ground and curses loudly. Riktor groans and goes to retort, but as he notices Yang, the tattoos on his body glow bright blue and he propels himself to his feet and continues running. Yang stops at the blonde and lowers her hands. She looks down at her with a concerned expression, eyes slowly returning to their normal colour.

"Are you alright?" Yang asks, kneeling down to the shy and quiet girl who only nods at her slightly from behind her large book. "I'm sorry about him, he seems like a bit of an idiot," Yang sighs and rolls her eyes as she looks around for Riktor. "I'm Yang by the way, what's your name?" she says, holding out her hand, but the girl just raises her book to block out Yang. "You sure you're ok?" Yang asks, sitting down and pulling her knees up to her chest.

"Yeah," the girl responds quietly, still trying to block the world out.

"Alright, if you say so," Yang sighs and gets to her feet.

"Faith," the girl pipes up as Yang is about to leave.

"Sorry, what was that?" Yang asks, almost not hearing her.

"My name is Faith," the quiet girl tells her. Yang smiles.

"Nice to meet you Faith, you have a pretty name," Yang states.

"Th-thanks," Faith gets flustered and hides her face in her book. Yang walks back over to where Ruby and Spencer are arguing about some other pointless thing and flops down on her bedroll. The remainder of the students in the hall are all winding down for the night and finding their own beds for some much needed rest before the next day's test.


	2. The First Pair

**A/N RIP Monty Oum, he will be missed =(**

The next morning a small group of first year students gather at the edge of the forest where Goodwitch and Ozpin are waiting. Ozpin explains the task they must accomplish.

_Find the temple, grab a relic and return here. The first person I make eye contact with is my partner for the next 4 years. Pretty straight forward,_ Riktor thinks as he looks around at some of the other kids he would be in the forest with. One of the students he spots is Spencer but neither of his sisters. _Good thing too 'cause I'd hate to be paired with Blondie for four long years._ He couldn't help but notice the colossal student towering above everyone else with a large double headed axe and a couple pieces of armour. Among the others he notices a short kid with multi-coloured hair in a white coat with gold gauntlets, and identical twins, each sporting a pair of tonfa. Before Riktor gets a good look at the other people he is suddenly flung into the air towards the forest. He flies through the air and descends towards the ground. With his blue aura engulfing him, Riktor crosses his arms over his chest and braces for impact. The young man smashes straight through several trees while rocketing towards the ground. Riktor hits the ground hard and bounces directly into the side of a cliff, leaving a large crater on its face. As the dust settles from his impact, he walks out of the crater and brushes himself off.

"Well, that kinda hurt," he says to himself. He rolls his head to crack his neck before he sets off.

* * *

A dark haired girl with a green hoodie and a purple tank top sits at a table in a small office.

"Miss Castle that was an impressive display of bravery," A silver haired man with glasses and a cane sitting across from her states with his scroll in his hands. The scroll replays a video of Anna fighting gang members to protect a little Faunus girl. "You have an interesting weapon, did you make it yourself?" Ozpin asks.

"No, my mother did and she had started to teach me how to use it before…" Anna's voice catches in her throat and her sentence stops short.

"It's ok Anna, I understand how hard those events are on a person," he tells her. Anna looks away from him, trying to hide the tears that are forming in her eyes. "Listen Anna, I want to offer you a chance to use your skills to help make the world a better place for Humans and Faunus alike. I am the Headmaster of Beacon Academy and I accept Faunus at my school and treat them like equals. You would learn how to become a huntress and protect many more people like that little girl," he continues explaining.

"I just wish the rest of your species was that accepting," Anna says, finally looking up at him.

"It will take time, but eventually the rest will come around," Ozpin replies before leaving the room. Anna looks down to see an entry application for Beacon on the table.

* * *

Anna soars through the air over the Emerald forest, the thoughts of her meeting still playing in her mind. She descends through the tree tops snapping her whip and wraps it around a large branch ahead of her. Sharp barbs protrude from the whip and dig into the branch as it coils around. The girl swings around the branch a few times before settling on top of it. She quickly jerks it upward and the sharp barbs rip through the branch and she falls to the ground. After hitting the ground, she rolls forward into a ready stance and takes a brief look around to notice she was alone. Anna hears a loud crash off to her left and decides to investigate what made the noise. After a short walk through the forest, she notices a few destroyed trees and a small crater in the ground.

"Hey there doll face," a voice calls out from behind her, startling the girl. The fact that the voice had randomly popped up out of nowhere hadn't been the reason she was startled. It was what that the person had said 'doll face'. The words rang in her head. Anna had never been given a compliment about her looks before. The scales that appeared on various parts of her body always seemed to scare most people off. The ones on her cheek and on her chest were the ones people saw first. Scales on her elbows and knees always tore holes her clothes, so no matter how hard she tries, she always has a punk look. She shook her head and turned to look at the source of the voice that had paid her the compliment. She stands there staring at a tall handsome guy with sandy blonde hair, wearing a black studded leather jacket and blue jeans. His smile slowly fades from his face as he looks at her. She knew that look all too well, and she was also familiar with the soul crushing sadness that followed immediately behind it. As she looks at him Ozpin's words echo in her mind 'the first person you make eye contact with will be your partner for the next 4 years'.

"Um hi?" The guy says, walking towards her slowly. Though he looks a little nervous as he holds out his hand, it doesn't seem that he is repulsed by her scaly appearance. "I'm Riktor and you are?" he asks her, his voice shaking as if it was his first time talking to a girl. She tensed up at the kindness that she isn't accustom to, and carefully shook his hand. She could feel her face getting hot because she very seldom had this much interaction with a cute guy for long.

"Anna," she tells him, looking away as she answered to hide her face which was rapidly turning scarlet.

"Well at least I have a cute girl as my partner," he states with a smug grin and starts walking away. Anna tenses up again at his compliment.

_Was he just hitting on me because he wants to get in my pants or does he genuinely think I'm cute? Guys almost never call me cute let alone pay me any kind of compliment, especially not a human! Some of the Faunus I've known have been accepting, but it's always the scales on my body or the colour and shape of my eyes that scare people off._ The girl thinks to herself.

"Are you coming, or do I have to carry you?" Riktor speaks again, disrupting her train of thought and nearly making her jump out of her skin. Anna realizes that she has been standing in the same spot since he had walked off and that she should probably follow her new partner.

"Yeah, sorry, I'm just a little distracted," she replies catching up to him, flipping her hair over her face in case it was still bright red. "Do you know what made those craters back there?" she asks after a few minutes of silent walking hoping that some sort of conversation would ease the tension she could feel building.

"Hell yea! I made them when I landed," he said in a cocky tone. As much as she doesn't want to believe him, something tells her that he is telling the truth. "Well crashed more like," he laughs as he flicks a low hanging branch. A small blue wave of energy rapidly expands from his finger as it made contact with the branch. The branch splinters into tiny pieces, and Anna notices a glowing mark on the back of his hand that appeared through the rectangular hole on his fingerless gloves.

"Are those dust tattoos?" the raven haired girl asks a bit louder than she intended before realizing it a bit too late. She quickly covers her mouth but he had already heard her.

"Yeah, I have dust infused with my skin. I can create shockwaves with my hands," he informs her with his hotshot tone. However in Anna's opinion he seemed to enjoy using it a bit too much.

"When did you get them?" she questions him. Riktor stops walking suddenly and the girl almost bumps into him. "Uh, are you ok? Did I say something wrong?" Anna asks him with a concerned look on her face. Riktor ignores her and starts walking again to avoid her spotting his expression. "Sorry I asked," she quickly replies and runs up beside him. She catches the sad look plastered across his face and hopes that she can fix the uncomfortable situation she created.

"I don't really remember to be honest," he replies to her in a somber voice, before looking over at her with a confident smile. "Look, don't be sorry. We're teammates so we should get to know each other eventually, right?" he comments in a chipper tone in an attempt to make her feel better. She feels it is probably a touchy subject so she doesn't try to press the issue, as he would hopefully tell her the whole story someday.

"Oi, I'm going to find higher ground to see if I can spot the temple. Don't wander too far," he tells her after a few more minutes of silence, then positions himself under a tall tree preparing to climb it.

"Don't talk to me like you're my boss!" she hisses at him, placing her hands on her hips, and giving him a stern look.

"I never said that! I was just... Argh, nevermind!" he snaps at Anna, a bit confused at her sudden outburst of anger. He stifles his own growing rage and looks up to the top of the tree. "Whatever, be like that," he rolls his eyes, looking rather annoyed. The tattoos on Riktor's hands glow and he releases a shockwave of slightly blue energy at the ground, propelling him upwards. The force of his shockwave makes a small crater in the ground. Anna was left with nothing but a guilty feeling in her gut.

_Great job Anna, you snapped at the only cute guy who wasn't grossed out by your scales or eyes. There was no reason for that. He was just trying to come up with a plan and keep an eye on his teammate, which is more than you're doing._ While thinking to herself, she walks toward the clearing she had spotted off to her right. As she enters the clearing she senses that something feels off, like something is near her and it likely isnt't Riktor. A sinister growl off to her left confirms her suspicions. A boar like creature charges at her. It has white armour plates on its face and along its back, two long tusks extended out from either side of its face. Immediately she cracks her whip at it, and sharp barbs jut out digging into the boar's right tusk. She swings it around and throws it directly into a tree which bends slightly from the impact. The boarbatusk's soft stomach is left exposed allowing her to strike. Anna snaps her whip quickly and pulls the small trigger on the handle, causing it to fire bullets out of the whip's tip as she swings it around. It required a lot of time practicing the timing of her trigger pulls at first but now she rarely misses a shot. The boar squeals loudly as she repeatedly shoots its underside. It quickly dies from her relentless attack. She smirks devilishly at the limp corpse of the Grimm. She was too busy congratulating herself on the small victory to notice a second boarbatusk slowly creeping up on her.


	3. Everyone Has Baggage

**A/N: Sorry won't be doing weekly updates as there are other things that require more attention. Will put out new chapters when able. Thanks for understanding.**

Riktor propels himself up the tree and looks out over the top of the forest. He rests his back against the trunk of the tree and scans the area but isn't able to spot the temple from where he is. He thinks back to his partner.

_A Faunus! She's a Faunus! It must be pay back for everything I've done while part of the Crimson Skull. __Carlyle is probably rolling in his grave, laughing his ass off at me because of the predicament I've found myself in.__ The worst part is that, even with the scales on her face and the weird shaped eyes, she is kind of cute. A Faunus is the last thing I'd expect to be paired up with and honestly I had hoped I wouldn't be. Regardless, Carlyle would want me to try to make this work._ He thinks to himself knowing that his old friend would find this whole situation hilarious.

_Why had she snapped at me like she did? We were getting along pretty good. I was even starting to like her a bit and feeling a tad comfortable with her, but then she goes all crazy on me! Maybe she picked up on my big secret?_ He ponders as he looks out at the great view of the forest he has since he is above most of the trees. Off in the distance he hears gunshots, which pulls him back to reality. Glancing around the tree tops he figures that it must be Anna fighting against monsters and decides he needs to go check on her. He leaps down to the ground, creating shockwaves in the air to gradually slow his momentum. He hits the ground and peers through the foliage.

Anna stands in the clearing, and snaps a whip at a large Boarbatusk that is crumpled against a cracked tree. A smirk creeps across Riktor's face as he watches his partner finish off the Grimm creature. He notices another one creeping up behind the young woman that she hasn't noticed. He surges forward as fast as he can, launching himself into the air and over her before planting his glowing fist directly on faceplate of the charging pig. His fist collides with its thick skull at the same time he releases a powerful shockwave. The boar's skull cracks into several pieces and blood dribbles down the side of its head. The ground around the Boarbatusk craters several inches from his attack. The Boarbatusk squeals as it dies from being stopped dead in its tracks. Anna looks up at him while sitting on the ground since she had fallen over in surprise from Riktor's attack. The blond wipes the blood that had splattered onto his gloves and jacket, off onto the boar's fur. He stands up and looks down at the broken corpse at his feet. Turning to look at his shocked partner he puts on a cocky, shit eating grin that he loves giving to girls.

"Dinner is served," he jokes, trying to play cool and hoping that would ease the tension that had previously spawned up between them. Anna's shocked expression quickly turned to one of annoyance. She rolled her eyes and gave a sound of utter disgust before walking off.

_Oh man, why would I even think that would work? It just makes me sound stupid. I really need to stop acting like such an idiot._ Riktor thinks feeling as ridiculous as the joke was. He quickly walks after her hoping to redeem himself. "I didn't see much while I was up there by the way," he informs her, trying to make a recovery from his poor attempt at humour.

"I could have told you that. We have to go to the far edge of the forest," she retorts in a grumpy tone. Her brisk pace never falters as she walks through the forest, coiling up her whip before returning it to her side.

"So why didn't you?" Riktor asks her, still attempting to make conversation and get to find out the source of her anger.

"I know your type. You wouldn't have cared to listen to anything I might have said," she retorts still annoyed at him. Riktor rolls his eyes and speeds up to catch her.

"Alright stop for a second," he growls, grabbing her right shoulder and spins her around to face him, pushing her against a tree. "I don't know what type of humans you've dealt with in the past and I'm sure they were gigantic assholes, but I'm not like that," he barks at her as she tries to escape his grip. "We are teammates whether you like it or not. Now trust me when I say you have every right to hate me, I deserve it more than most but I'm trying to be a better person and you're not making that very easy," he tells her, moving his hand off her shoulder. She looks up at him slightly confused by what he had just said. Riktor immediately walks off without another word. The look of pain and regret on his face would tell anyone how much he felt he did not deserve to be near the young Faunus, however it is apparent that he is doing everything he can to stick it out for his new partner.

"I'm sorry," Anna's timid reply comes from behind him catching the young man off guard. He expects her to get angry or throw some more sass at him but there is only sadness in her voice. He turns back to look at her, she hasn't moved from the tree he had pinned her too looking quite ashamed of herself. "I'm so sorry. I'm not exactly used to dealing with your kind and it's made me pretty hostile towards humans" she confesses, looking at her feet with sorrow painted across her face.

"Believe me when I say that it is way harder for me than it is for you," he replies with the same hint of anguish in his voice that was in Anna's. He tries to walk a bit faster than her so she can't see his grief stricken expression. She looks up to see him walking away from her. Though quite shocked by what she had just heard, she knows he is hiding something from her and is just trying to avoid saying anything. She catches the sad look on his face moments before he turns around to keep walking, which makes her wonder even more.

He thinks silently to himself as they wander through the forest before finally speaking up.

"So uh…What type of faunus are you?" he inquires, unsure if that is a rude question to ask or not.

"Huh?" she calls out, caught off guard by his question, due to her being deep in thought.

"Well I noticed the scales and was curious what kind of Faunus you were," he repeats with more detail.

"A snake Faunus, can't you tell by my eyes?" she asks slightly surprised that he had asked her and wondered it wasn't obvious.

"No I couldn't. I've never really paid much attention to animals or anything like that much so I didn't know besides the scales," he informs her.

"Really? I would have thought that it would be pretty common knowledge," she remarks, feeling slightly confused about the situation.

"I grew up different than most everyone else so common knowledge for me is a lot different than common knowledge for others," Riktor explains.

"I hope someday you'll explain all the stories behind these intriguing comments," Anna suggests, with a sly grin, appearing beside him.

"You'll probably think less of me when I finally tell you and I wouldn't blame you if you did," he retorts. Anna stops for a minute to ponder what he said. Riktor just leaves the girl with more questions about his past.

_Come on Riktor, stop being so broody. It's pretty obvious she doesn't hate you._

"_Are you here to haunt me some more? What would you know about all this?"_

_You do realize that I don't actually exist right? You're just arguing with yourself. By the way, you're talking out loud and she can hear you._

"_God damn you, Carlyle!"_ Riktor mumbles under his breath. He snaps back to reality and looks over at Anna who was staring at him with a confused look on her face.

"Who's Carlyle?" Anna asks about the name Riktor used once he stops muttering to himself.

"He's friend of mine," Riktor sighs, realizing he needs to tell her something to not look any crazier then he already does.

"Is he here at Beacon as well? Are you upset because you didn't get to meet up with him?" Anna continues to dig for information from her stubborn partner in hopes to learn more about him.

"I'd rather not talk about it, so just drop it," Riktor replies sternly as he disintegrates another couple tree branches. He grits his teeth angrily every time he hits a branch.

"Oh, alright, I'm sorry I brought it up," Anna sighs sadly realizing she has hit another sensitive topic with him. She thinks that he seems fairly distressed because of his angry grunts as the branches explode. The two of them walk along in silence for the next little while since neither of them wants to say anything that might upset or annoy the other any farther. They eventually approach a clearing where they hear voices coming from. Before them is the sight of Spencer cradling a girl, with long blonde hair and a white coat, in his arms while down on one knee.

"Look at the lady's man," Riktor chuckles and claps him hands.


	4. Grab and Go

**A/N: Had a week break and managed to get this chapter finalized faster than expected. Hope you enjoy!**

Spencer is launched into the air a few seconds after he sees Riktor flying through the air. He tries to keep an eye on Riktor so they can hopefully meet up in the forest.

_Riktor seems like a decent guy even though Yang doesn't like him. He is the only person I've met so far and we are kind of friends._ Spencer extends his scythe out as he comes closer to the treetops. As he approaches the trees he quickly slashes them to clear the way. He descends through the path he is creating before sticking out his scythe and catching a tree. Spencer rapidly spirals down around the tree and he reaches the ground quickly. He looks around and notices he has shaved a good portion of the tree's bark off and it was scattered all around him.

"Oops, guess I kind of over did it," he chuckles to himself as he looks around at the ground. Spencer turns to walk away and sees a blonde haired girl in a long white coat standing several feet away from him behind a tree just watching him. "Ahhh!" Spencer shrieks loudly, tripping over his own feet. "Where did you come from?" Spencer gasps in surprise but realizes the girl has disappeared. "What the heck?" he questions and gets up to look around for the blonde. He turns to find her standing a couple feet behind him which startles him. "Whoa!" he yells and nearly falls over again from shock. _How did she get there? I didn't even see her move, she just disappeared__. _

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to scare you," the girl says shying away from him. "My name's Faith by the way," she tells him with a timid smile on her face that is slowly turning red.

"I'm Spencer" he introduces himself. Faith smiles and looks away as her cheeks turn an even deeper shade of scarlet. Spencer chuckles a bit after noticing her blushing and begins blush as well. Faith begins to flicker as she realizes just how much she is blushing and then disappears into thin air. Spencer stares at the spot she was standing clueless about what just happened. He catches a glimpse of her moving away from him before it disappears as well. He sprints after her, leaving a big trail of orange rose petals behind him.

_Why was I blushing so much at that kid?_ Faith appears in a clearing and tries to compose herself however the sound of cracking sticks alerts her to something's presence. "Um, Spencer?" she calls out to her surroundings but only gets loud growls in response. She pulls her sword out and takes a defensive stance as multiple beowolves jump out into the clearing encircling her. A few of them pounce at her and she swipes her sword, quickly dispatching them. That does nothing to deter the bloodlust of the rest. The others charge at her. She dances and teleports around them, hacking and slashing at them with her sword. She kills five more Grimm before she realizes that it is just attracting more to the glade. Faith runs her hand along the flat edge of her blade which begins to arc with electrical energy. She stabs her sword into the ground at her feet and several bolts of lightning surge forward in a wide area, striking the wolves and trees all around the clearing. The electricity from her sword sets a few trees aflame and knocks them over spreading the fire even faster. The rest of the wolves scatter in all directions because of the fire. A large tree begins to fall over towards the young lady who is completely unaware. Faith turns to see the tree and halts dead in her tracks, shocked by how close the tree is to landing directly on top of her. A flurry of orange rose petals engulfs her just before the tree hits her, and instead it hits the ground where she had stood. Faith opens her eyes to see the petals scattered everywhere and Spencer's face looking down at her. She quickly realizes she is being held in his arms, his cloak billowing around the two of them.

"You shouldn't run off by yourself," he smiles down at her causing her blush. _I'm not sure what Riktor was complaining about, talking to girls seems pretty easy._

"Look at the lady's man," A familiar voice calls out from behind them.

"Ah! Riktor!" Spencer screams in shock and drops Faith unexpectedly who shrieks in surprise as she hits the ground.

"Well you almost had it, smooth move kiddo," He replies laughing at Spencer who has turned red from Riktor and Anna's sudden appearance. Faith pulls herself up as Anna and Riktor are still chuckling at Spencer.

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up. Who was the one being chased around by a girl last night? That's right, It was you" Spencer calls him out which snaps him out his laughing fit and scowls at the pint sized scythe wielder. Anna nearly falls over from laughing even harder.

"Hey! Your sister is scary. You even said so yourself!" Riktor tries to defend himself but the girls continue to laugh despite his ramblings. The two of them manage to compose themselves after a few minutes have gone by. With Riktor and Anna leading the way, and Faith timidly staying towards the back, the four of them walk along the forest while Riktor grumbles to himself.

"So, who's your new friend Riktor?" Spencer asks after Anna had stopped laughing.

"My name's Anna. Riktor told me who you were when we saw you," Anna smiles at Spencer and shakes his hand.

"Nice to meet you Anna. This is my partner, Faith," Spencer comments on the quiet girl in the white coat walking beside him. Faith shyly waves at Anna and Riktor barely glancing up before continuing to stare at the ground.

"Well now that we're all acquainted, we need to find the temple and grab an artifact," Anna remarks as Riktor knocks some branches out of the way.

"Do YOU have any idea where it is?" Spencer asks, looking at his blond haired friend leading the group.

"We should run into it soon if we head this way," Riktor states matter-of-factly.

"That's a safe bet Riktor. It's probably in the opposite direction of our starting point," Spencer jokes. Within a few minutes the group finds the temple where the artifacts are held. They see a tall figure in a couple pieces of heavy armour with a huge battle-axe standing beside a short kid in long white trench coat. The group approaches the temple as the two people notice them and wander over to meet them.

"Hey. My name is Gryphon and the shrimp over there is NEON," the larger of the students introduces the pair of them.

"Sup suckers," NEON says with a smug grin on his face as he walks up beside his large Faunus friend, "and ladies," he flashes the girls a charming smile. Anna rolls her eyes and pushes past him with Faith following close behind, causing the rest of the guys to laugh at him. The girls grab identical artifacts and head back to their partners.

"I'm Spencer and this is Riktor, the girls are Anna and Faith," Spencer introduces his friends to the others, shaking Gryphon's out stretched hand. Just as they shake hands, a large Deathstalker crashes through several trees and lands on its back. A young woman in a purple battle dress leaps into the air and pierces its exposed stomach with a pair of swords connected by a four foot chain. The beast lets out a sickly cry before it goes limp. A girl with short black hair wearing a tight black outfit appears from the same direction. The two girls approach the temple and grab an artifact before they walk over to where everyone else is standing.

"Should we all head back together? Might be safer," Spencer offers up to get everyone else's opinions.

"I have no problem with that idea," Gryphon chimes in and NEON agrees.

_Great more Faunus. There is no way this isn't punishment. Gryphon looks familiar for some reason but I just can't put my finger on it. If you're watching me I hope you're enjoying the show Carlyle, because I'm sure not._ Riktor thinks to himself noticing the feathers, instead of hair, on Gryphon's head.

"I know I'd feel so much more secure with such a big, strong man protecting me," the girl in the black stealth suit adds winking and Gryphon.

"I'm Kyra and that is Tamara" the young woman in purple states as an agreeance to the group sticking together. Tamara bows slightly as her name is said. The group of eight heads off into the forest to return to the cliff that they all started at. They run as fast as possible through the forest, trying to avoid as much fighting as they can. The creatures of Grimm pursue them in large packs, scrambling over each other to get at the group. The students reach a clearing that sits at the base of the cliff. Without any time for rest the horde of Grimm creatures descends upon the huntsmen and huntresses in training.

"Break off into smaller groups to deal with this while covering all sides. Nobody go off alone!" Kyra shouts as she draws her swords.

"Alright, Riktor, Anna and Faith with me, we'll focus on the right side," Spencer calls out, cocking the grenade launcher built into the shaft of his scythe. Anna cracks her whip, Faith's sword arcs with lightning, and Riktor smashes his knuckles together which makes his tattoos glow.

"We've got the left!" Kyra cries out with Gryphon, Tamara and NEON close behind her.

They sprint towards the throng of Grimm charging at them. Riktor propels himself up into the air and slams his fist into a large Ursa. A shockwave expands outward from his fist, causing several Beowolves and Ursa to get knocked back in all directions. Faith teleports around the battlefield slashing the creatures, lightning arcing wildly from her sword. Anna's whip wraps around the throat of a Beowulf and she smashes it into a group of other creatures. Spencer's shotgun shell sized grenades explode all around the glade while he speeds about slashing with his scythe. Gryphon charges at the mob of Grimm trying not to get too far away from his group.

"Bring it on little bugs!" Gryphon shouts as he begins to grow in size, his armour and weapon glow bright yellow and they grow with him. The eight foot tall titan now standing twelve feet tall stomps towards the monsters which begin to cower in his presence. He drops his axe into a pile of Grimm which shakes the ground and several creatures are split in two. Tamara swings around a meteor hammer with a dagger attached to the other end of the chain. She twirls around and it smashes into several monsters and keeps running along.

"It's time for a symphony of pain!" NEON cackles loudly as he holds his hands out in front of him. Several mixtures of raw elements are formed from his gauntlets as he moves his hands around. He laughs wildly as creatures scatter to escape the elemental carnage he is further spreads the unique dust concoctions. Kyra speeds around the elemental explosions, surrounded by her purple aura. She hacks and slashes the creatures as they try to retreat back into the forest. A large black and white two headed snake slithers out of the trees towards them. Though normally about a hundred feet long this was a small King Taijitu and was only about 30 feet long.

"King Taijitu!" Kyra calls out but notices that Gryphon has charged at it without a second thought. The large snake hisses loudly at the rampaging goliath that was bearing down on it and decides that he was its first target. Gryphon shouts at the snake loudly which makes it recoil slightly. He brings down his axe on its midsection at the part where it changes from white to black. The two halves are still wiggling and twitching so Gryphon picks them up and uses them to strike other fleeing creatures.

"Cool down big man, there's no need to go ape shit," NEON chuckles as his partner throws the limp snake corpse back into the forest.

"I couldn't resist" Gryphon laughs as he shrinks down to normal size and rejoins the group that he had been fighting with. Once the monsters have been dealt with the teens start heading up the cliff-side to turn in the relics they have collected.


	5. All Settled In

Later that day, all the students gathered in the orientation hall eagerly awaiting team assignment from Ozpin.

"Spencer Rose, Anna Castle, Faith Everlight, and Riktor Ivory," Ozpin calls out and the four head up onto the stage. "You collected the white king pieces. You shall be known as Team Sapphire," Ozpin states and the students look at the screen with their faces on it and the letters S, A, F and R above them. "Team SAFR will be led by Spencer Rose," Ozpin states loudly. The crowd roars and claps with plenty of shouting and cheering coming from Yang and Ruby.

"What! Me? Why?" Spencer exclaims in equal parts shock and horror. The rest of his team congratulate him and lead him off the stage where his sisters wrap him in hugs.

"I'm so proud of you Spence! You're both leaders now!" Yang screeches loudly gripping her younger brother and sister tightly.

"I don't think she's ever going to stop gushing," Spencer says looking at Ruby.

"Come on. This is super cool. We'll be unstoppable," Ruby shoots back at him.

While Spencer is being suffocated by his overjoyed sisters, Gryphon, NEON, Kyra, and Tamara are called on to the stage by Ozpin.

"Kyra Viola, Nihlus Nikos, Gryphon Pyrite and Tamara Crowfoot. You four collected the white bishop pieces. You shall be known as team Knight," Ozpin says and again the crowd cheers loudly. NEON grumbles about having his first name said aloud in front of others. "The leader of your team will be Kyra Viola," Ozpin declares with more cheering to follow his words. The team glances at the screen above to see the letters K, N, G, and T displayed above their pictures.

"Lily Stardust, Ivan Pinebranch, Lacy Stardust, and Abigail Cygnet, you collected the black rook pieces. You will be known as team Lilac, led by Lily Stardust," Ozpin declares as the L, I, L, and A appears above each of the students pictures on the screen.

"We get to lead the team! We get to lead the team!" the twin sisters chant over and over, bouncing around and hugging each other.

"All students will be shown to their dorm rooms that they will be sharing with their team for the next four years. Get some sleep everyone because classes start early tomorrow," Ozpin informs the student body before taking his leave.

* * *

Once they all arrive at their dorm rooms, everyone begins to rearrange the beds, nightstands and dressers to their liking. Faith immediately moves her bed into the corner behind the door so it is hidden from view when people enter the room. She quickly runs to the washroom to change into pyjamas before taking out a book to read. The other three slowly follow suit and decide to each occupy a corner of the room. Anna takes the far right corner, Spencer the far left which leaves the left corner by the door for Riktor. Riktor flops down onto his bed in a pair of sweat pants and a comic book in hand. He happily flips through it for a while before deciding he should put it away and aim to get some sleep.

"So, what are you reading?" Anna asks sweetly as she sits down on the edge of Faith's bed. Faith just stares wide-eyed at Anna over the top of her book. It was obvious that something was unnerving to Faith because her face was half buried behind her book and she had a blush across her cheeks. Anna looks at her a little confused as she hides behind the book with no cover or observable title.

"Are you alright Faith?" Anna asks more concerned now than curious. She reaches out to try and lower the book from the shy girl's face.

"I'm fine Anna, thanks," Faith replies quietly pulling her book out of Anna's reach and holding it just a little bit tighter.

"Alright well I hope we will get to be great friends, I could always use more girl friends," Anna smiles and pats Faith on the knee before walking off to her own bed.

"Um thanks..." Faith smiles shyly as she watches Anna walk away. _She's really nice, why can't I work up the courage to talk to her? I just freeze as soon as I try to speak up. At least she didn't see my book. She doesn't really seem like the kind of person who would like them, they're really… _

"Riktor would you stop making those ridiculous comments!" Anna shrieks from across the room which snaps Faith out of her thoughts. Spencer pokes his head out of the makeshift tent he constructed over his bed. Riktor chuckles out loud at the sight of Spencer.

"What's up with you two now? You've been arguing all day since we were in the forest," Spencer groans as he gets to his feet.

"I made a sarcastic joke and Anna took it the wrong way like a typical woman," Riktor rolls his eyes sarcastically as Anna hisses at him and tries to charge at him but Spencer steps between the two of them.

"I knew you'd turn out to be a childish asshole when we first met!" Anna roars loudly as Spencer tries to calm her down and guide her back to her bed.

"Riktor what's the matter? You were a pretty decent guy yesterday," Spencer asks after Anna had calmed down. Riktor simply grabs another comic book to try and ignore the questions.

"I'm talking to you Riktor!" Spencer snaps at him and vigorously prods him in the arm.

"What!?" Riktor growls at him angrily.

"Now that I have your attention, answer me!" Spencer demands while Riktor glares at him.

"I wasn't trying to be rude in the first place and she flipped on me!" Riktor replies quickly, trying to defend himself.

"You know what you're both acting like children. How about I make you both apologize. You're both supposed to be mature young adults," Spencer yells loudly over the sound of their groaning. "I was being serious about apologizing to each other. Now!" Spencer snaps angrily and gestures for them to apologize. The two of them groan as they look at each other while Spencer waits patiently with a stern look on his face.

"I'm sorry you mistook my jo-… I mean I'm sorry for making a rude comment," Riktor apologizes properly after Spencer shoots him a very dirty glare.

"I'm sorry I may have overreacted slightly," Anna comments back.

"It's pretty sad that I'm the youngest out of everyone and I have to settle these childish arguments. Look it's been a long day and we're all tired, let's just try to get some sleep. We have class in the morning," Spencer groans and rolls his eyes as he walks back to his bed. Faith giggles quietly at his remark. Riktor rolls over on bed to try and calm himself down. He knew his anger was always a problem and he had usually ended up hitting someone because of it.

_That behavior was acceptable while I was in the Crimson Skull, but it won't fly here._ Riktor thinks as he drifts off to sleep, a reoccurring dream beginning to haunt him once again.

* * *

"Hey Carlyle, you alright buddy, you seemed pretty worked up on the phone," Riktor states as he walks into Carlyle's meager apartment and shuts the door.

"Yes I'm fine Riktor. I just need to talk to you about something," Carlyle sighs as he gets up from his raggedy old couch.

"Oh, ok then, well what is it?" Riktor seems a bit taken a back by Carlyle's comment and strange expression.

"I'm working on it dude, this isn't easy to say," Carlyle barks at him with an annoyed tone. He paces back and forth looking nervous about what he is trying to convey.

"Sorry dude this sounds serious. I'll stop jokin' around like an ass," Riktor apologizes and wipes the smile off his face in exchange for a more serious expression.

"Alright, ok well… um we've been friends for a few years now, right? I've decided that I can't keep lying, and need to come clean with you," Carlyle sighs forcing the words out of his mouth despite his nerves.

"Oh! Uh… Look Car, I like girls, I hope I haven't been giving-" Riktor pipes up again quickly, thinking he had everything figured out.

"What? Oh god no! Riktor, I'm straight! You're making this way harder than it already is!" Carlyle snaps at him again and continues pacing around the room.

"I'm sorry bro, I'm not trying to, believe me," Riktor quickly apologizes and grabs Carlyle's shoulders. "Listen, nothing you can possibly say will make me hate you. Just tell me flat out, no bullshit, no beating around the bush," Riktor reassures his troubled friend.

"I….. I can't say it. You don't understand how heavy this shit is Riktor," Carlyle shakes his head and turns away from him.

"C'mon Carlyle, don't leave me hanging here. Just say…" Riktor trails off as he watches Carlyle take off his poor-boy hat. Carlyle stands in front of Riktor and a pair of floppy bloodhound ears unfolds from the top of his head and hangs by his face.

"I'm a Faunus…" Carlyle sighs in defeat as he looks at his dumbfounded friend.

"I... I need some time to think," Riktor replies and swiftly walks out the door leaving Carlyle by himself to wonder if he made the right choice.

* * *

Riktor wakes in a cold sweat sitting bolt upright in his bed. He looks around the room. Anna and Faith are both in the process of getting ready for the day. Spencer stands next to Riktor's bed after having shaken him to wake him up.

"What?" Riktor asks looking at all their concerned faces and wonders why they were staring at him so intently.

"You were tossing and turning pretty violently and kept calling out to someone named Carlyle," Spencer informs him. Riktor sighs and flops back onto his pillow knowing he will have to tell them eventually. "Are you alright?" Spencer asks.

"I'm fine," Riktor growls hoping he's able to dodge this awkward situation.

"Sure you are," Spencer replies and rolls his eyes sarcastically before wandering back to his corner of the room to finish preparing for class.

Ever since the incident his nightmares about Carlyle have refused to subside making it hard for him to get a decent nights rest. Riktor quickly changes and leaves the room before any of his teammates. The door on the opposite side of the hall opens as he walks out of his room. Gryphon, the large bird Faunus he had met yesterday, walks out and starts heading down the hallway in the same direction as Riktor.

"Riktor, right?" Gryphon asks curiously as he slows down to walk beside the blond.

"That's my name, or so they tell me," Riktor chuckles as he straightens the tie on his school uniform._Fucking silk nooses, I hate wearing a shirt and tie._ Riktor growls internally at the uniform he is forced to wear.

"Pretty epic fight we had yesterday with all those Grimm, don't ya think?" Gryphon laughs as he thinks back to squishing so many creatures under his boots.

"Yeah it was pretty awesome. Hey where's that pip squeak that was with you?" Riktor comments as he looks around to see if he could spot the rainbow haired teen.

"Probably still in bed," Gryphon replies resulting in a look of confusion from Riktor. "What? I'm not his mother. He can get his own lazy ass out of bed!" Gryphon chuckles as he notices the look on Riktor's face. The two laugh and bump their fists together.

_I suppose t__his Faunus guy is actually a pretty decent dude. Carlyle, wherever you are, you can shut up._Riktor thinks to himself as the pair turn into the same class.


	6. Reconciling the Past

**A/N: Sorry for the short chapter. Work, school, and surgery. Hope you at least enjoy it.**

The students gather in the class room. It consists of a large combat area with bleachers up above around the edge. The students sit up in the bleachers as the blonde huntress walks into the combat arena and greets the class.

"Man I would do naughty things to her," Riktor chuckles quietly to Gryphon who was sitting to his right. Gryphon tries to contain his snickering.

"She'd probably snap you in half and make you beg for mercy," he laughs quietly while Goodwitch talks to the class. The two young men laugh together and pound their fists together before realizing that Goodwitch was glaring at them.

"It seems like we have two volunteers for the first round," she growls at them and everyone in the room stares. The two of them shrug at each other and get up to head down to the sparring arena. Riktor hops off the bleachers straight into the pit.

"Aren't you going to go put on your combat outfit? Some type of armor? Grab your weapon?" Goodwitch asks him as he takes his place at one end of the training room.

"Nope, my combat outfit isn't much different than this and besides my weapon is the dust tattoos on my body," he comments as he gestures to his school uniform. Goodwitch just rolls her eyes and walks off the arena floor. Gryphon marches out in his armor and brandishing his large double sided battle-axe against his shoulder.

"Alright, Riktor Ivory vs Gryphon Pyrite, begin!" she exclaims.

"Alright big man! Bring it on!" Riktor roars loudly, smashing his fists together which makes his tattoos glows and a small shockwave expands from his hands on contact. Gryphon grins widely and readies his axe for battle. Something about Riktor's abilities seems oddly familiar to the large Faunus. Riktor surges forward with a fist raised, he leaps into the air and comes down on Gryphon who side steps the attack. Riktor's fist connects with the ground and a massive surge of energy explodes from his hand. Large cracks expand outward along the floor. Gryphon has the sudden realization why the powers seemed so familiar. He dodges a few more punches from Riktor. Gryphon swings his axe and belts Riktor with the flat side of the axe. Riktor is sent soaring backwards into the wall which craters on impact. The whole class gasps loudly as the teen collides with the wall causing a loud thud. Riktor falls down to the ground and stands up like nothing happened, grinning like an idiot. Riktor walks forward with his aura glowing brightly around him. He rolls his head cracking his neck multiple times.

"I don't think I've ever been hit that hard before," Riktor chuckles and launches himself toward Gryphon with a massive shockwave. Riktor's fist collides with Gryphon's chest and explodes with another shockwave on impact. Gryphon rockets through the wall behind him and lands in the locker room. The eight foot tall behemoth slowly pulls himself out of the rubble and starts laughing.

"You pack quite a punch small fry. I don't get that kind of experience very often," he chuckles as he walks through the hole in the wall. The kid with the multi-coloured hair that came into class late is shocked anyone could not only shrug off a heavy blow his large friend could deliver but also deal a big hit as well.

"Your semblance must have something to do with you being able to take a hit like that, am I right?" Gryphon asks with a big grin. The two young men begin circling each other.

"You got it feather head. Makes me pretty freaking durable," Riktor chuckles as he smashes his fists again. "Are you going to show me yours?" Riktor asks anxiously as he takes a few jabs at Gryphon quickly.

"You explained yours so I suppose it would only be polite," Gryphon laughs heartily and Goodwitch begins to regret her choice for the first sparring match. Gryphon slowly grows an additional four feet in size, his armour glows bright yellow and changes in size with him. Riktor grins widely and cheers.

"Now this is a fight!" Riktor shouts loudly and charges at the giant of a man in front of him. Gryphon pounds Riktor into the ground with one swift movement but Riktor bounces back up and smashes him in the face. Gryphon and Riktor dance around the training room trading blows and destroying the arena more and more with their destructive powers. Goodwitch gets incredibly upset and conjures up a barrier between the two combatants to separate them from each other before they completely destroy the room.

"That is enough you two! You don't need to tear down the whole building! It's just a sparring match not a fight to the death!" Goodwitch scolds them while Gryphon shrinks down to his normal size.

"So who won?" the two brawlers ask at the same time and look up at the half broken screen which displays their aura at the same level.

"Neither of you did, it's a tie," Goodwitch sighs waving her crop which fixes all the damages that they had caused. Riktor groans and heads off to the locker room and Gryphon follows him, trying to catch up.

"Hey Riktor I'm guessing you don't remember me do you?" Gryphon asks. Riktor stops dead in his tracks but doesn't turn around. He resumes walking at a much faster pace, trying to get avoid the Faunus.

"Riktor! Come back!" Gryphon calls after him and moves to follow.

"Mr. Ivory and Mr. Pyrite, get back here this instant!" Goodwitch shrieks loudly at the pair walking out of her class.

"I'll go to talk to him. We'll head to Ozpin's office for our punishment afterwards," Gryphon calls back to the angry huntress and quickly throws his armour into his locker and chases after Riktor before she can retort. _Why did he run away from me? He probably thinks I'm going to attack him for it. I just want to forgive him for what had happened._ Gryphon races down the hallways. He hears heavy foot steps ahead of him which most likely belong Riktor. Gryphon steps out onto a balcony where Riktor is sitting on the edge. _I really hope he isn't going to jump. Actually I suppose that wouldn't make a difference with his semblance._

"Can I say what I want to before you jump to any conclusions?" Gryphon ask him, slowly walking towards him. Riktor jumps too his feet and turns around to meet Gryphon's concerned gaze. It is obvious that Riktor is being bothered by something.

"I already know what you're going to say. I don't deserve anything more than a gruesome death at the hand of a Faunus. Just get it over with quickly," Riktor snaps at him, his voice trembling as he shouts. Riktor stands there with his arms extended out to the sides and he shuts his eyes waiting for Gryphon to put the final nail in his coffin.

"I forgive you," Gryphon says in a calm tone. Riktor's eyes shoot open and he looks at the giant teen in shock.

"What? No! Just fucking kill me like I deserve!" Riktor bellows loudly and takes a step towards Gryphon who doesn't budge or flinch. Gryphon places a reassuring hand on Riktor's shoulder which startles him but allows him to start calming down.

"Listen, I'm sure you had your reasons for doing what you did when we were younger but I don't hold it against you. You were a child in a gang. You didn't have much say as to what you could or couldn't do," Gryphon explains to him, trying to reassure him and make him understand that he can redeem himself. "Don't hold on to darkness when the light is right in front of you, welcoming you into it and trying to give you a better life. Have you told your team about this yet? There is a Faunus on your team right? She has a right to know this," Gryphon continues and Riktor looks at his feet and sighs heavily. "Take your time and tell them when you're ready, but you have to tell them eventually. For now let's go get scolded by Ozpin like real men," Gryphon chuckles with a big smile.

"I don't recall ever scolding anyone because they had to work out past conflicts," a voice says from behind them making the two boys jump. They turn around to see Ozpin standing there in the door way with his cane in one hand and a steaming coffee cup in the other. "I hope everything is settled," he states, his expression unchanging as he talks.

"Yes they should be sir," Gryphon states happily and Ozpin smiles.

"Good. I'm glad to hear it. I will deal with Ms. Goodwitch. You two just get back to your classes," Ozpin states before he turns and walks away, the bell rings and it signals the time for lunch.

"Listen I got to go find my useless brother, but we'll catch up for lunch maybe?" Gryphon asks as he heads for the door.

"Sure, I'll try to gather the rest of my teammates and see you in the cafeteria," Riktor comments and follows him out the door. "Besides, our teams' rooms are right across the hall from each other so we should get to know each other," Riktor continues to make conversation. Gryphon smiles down at him and they laugh, they wave to each other as the split up to find their teams.

Gryphon wanders down the hallway feeling pretty good about himself and sorting out the situation with his new friend. He had helped steer Riktor away from darkness and into the light, even if only a little. They had a pretty awesome sparring match as well and he couldn't believe they had ended it in a draw. _I'm sure I could have won the fight if Goodwitch hadn't stopped it. I was just getting warmed up. He's lucky she put the kibosh on the match._ Gryphon chuckles too himself at the thought of that.


	7. Fights Between Friends

**A/N: Sorry for the VERY late update. Been busy with exams, family, and work. Also been pretty run down and in the dumps. Biggest thing was that chapters 7 and 8 were completely forgotten about. So here is chapters 7, 8, and 9 to make up for it.**

"Where did you run off too!" a female voice hollers from behind Gryphon which he quickly recognizes to be his team leader, Kyra.

"I needed to talk to Riktor and sort some things out. Everything is good now I promise," Gryphon informs her nervously even though he towers over her. There was something about Kyra that made her seem fierce and intimidating that he had to give her credit for. It wasn't every day that a girl could make him feel a slight bit of nervousness.

"The point is that Tamara fought Spencer, the scythe wielder from SAFR after you left and you should have been there to support her!" Kyra growls angrily as she prods him with her finger.

"I'm sorry Kyra. How'd she do?" Gryphon apologizes and tries to change the subject so his leader would stop yelling at him.

"It was a good fight but the kid just kinda froze once she got his scythe away from him so she managed to win," Kyra sighs knowing she shouldn't be so hard on him for such a trivial matter.

"Good for her I'll have to congratulate her at lunch. Oh speaking of lunch, we are having lunch with Team SAFR," Gryphon informs her as they continue to walk down the hall.

"Any particular reason Gryphon?" Kyra asks him as she tries to keep up with his large strides.

"They are across the hall from us so we might as well get to know them plus we did fight with them in the forest so…" Gryphon explains to her. He glances back and notices her struggling to keep up with him and immediately slows his pace.

"I see your point Gryphon. It does make sense that we need to make friends outside our team," Kyra agrees with him. _Did he slow down just for me? I guess he is probably used to it since him and NEON are so close._

"Hi guys!" Tamara shouts loudly as she appears seemingly out of thin air which startles both Gryphon and Kyra.

"Dammit Tamara! Don't do that to us! I nearly had a heart attack!" Kyra exclaims loudly as holds her hand over her heart which is beating rapidly.

"I'm sorry, Princess, I couldn't help it," Tamara blushes furiously and begins turning invisible again.

_Did she use her semblance unconsciously? Was she nervous? Why'd she start blushing all of a sudden?_ Gryphon took note of her behavior.

"Would you please stop calling me that, I'm not a Princess!" Kyra pinches the bridge of her nose and signs at her now fully invisible teammate. Gryphon is doing everything he can not to laugh too loud but Kyra heard him.

"What's up losers," NEON appears with his usual annoying smirk on his face. Kyra glares at him for the comment. "I mean Kyra, ma'am…" he squeaks. He had obviously returned to the dorm room to change out of his uniform and into his normal clothes since he had his regular attire on complete with his trademark white trench coat.

"Hey bro," Gryphon replies to the rainbow haired young man.

"AHH! WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT!" NEON freaks out and falls over in sheer terror as something he could not see pokes him square in the chest. Tamara reappears cackling loudly and rolls on the floor laughing. Gryphon joins Tamara in laughing. Even Kyra let out a snicker at the look on NEON's face. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. You guys are hilarious," NEON grumbles getting back up on his feet. They all walk into the dining hall where many other students had assembled for lunch. They grab some food and find a big table they could all fit at and wait for SAFR to show up. Only a short time passes when Riktor and his teammates show up with their food in hand. They sit at the same table opposite team KNGT.

"So I heard you did pretty well in your sparring match against Spencer," Gryphon pipes up after a few minutes of small talk and eating. Spencer grumbles and crosses his arms over his chest.

"Actually I got really luckyGryphon. Spencer damn near opened me right up a couple times with that scythe of his," Tamara remarks. "Maybe you can open me up later tonight," She whispers so only Gryphon would hear and the Faunus nearly chokes on his food at the suggestive comment. "I don't really have much to brag about. Well, other than almost dying several times," She finishes, telling the whole group.

"You've got a mean back kick though, Tamara, so don't sell yourself short," Spencer comments as he rubs the side of his face where he had been kicked.

"Don't feel so bad Spencer, she did the same thing to NEON last night when he came on to her and he was out cold for at least an hour," Kyra describes the events of the previous evening. NEON grumbles about being caught off guard.

"I only let people make a play for me if they are worth playing with," she remarks and winks at Riktor. He gets a bit flustered before turning to Spencer.

"Sorry I wasn't there to see the fight short stuff," Riktor apologizes. Anna glares at him for using the stupid nickname he has for their team leader.

"It's fine. Where did you disappear to anyway?" Spencer asks him, shrugging off the height joke. Riktor tenses up a little trying to think of an answer that doesn't reveal too much.

"Riktor and I have a bit of history, I didn't recognize him at first so we went to catch up," Gryphon quickly jumps in to save Riktor who was struggling to find a good excuse. Everyone looks a little surprised at what he had said but they all let it slide deeming it a reasonable explanation. Everyone, that is, except NEON who knew everything about Gryphon and wasn't fooled by the ruse.

"I'll be back, nature calls," NEON comments and gets up from the table.

"That's a need to know basis, and we don't need to know," Anna calls after him. Gryphon waits for a minute or two before he finds a reason to excuse himself from the table and heads out of the cafeteria. He recognizes the secret code he and NEON had set up the means 'we need to talk'. Though he was sure he knew what NEON wanted, he had to go and be sure. He finds NEON sitting outside on a nearby bench under a tree and heads over to him to see what the issue was.

"Alright, what is it NEON?" Gryphon groans wanting to get this over with so they could return to their new found friends.

"What history could you possibly have with Riktor? I basically know everything about you and all the history you've had with anyone and I don't remember him. He better not be the Crimson Skull kid that beat you up when you were 12," NEON growls at the large Faunus.

_For such a small guy he has a lot of anger. I really hate being the reason he gets so mad. "_So what if he was? What are you going to do about it?" Gryphon asks him.

"I'm going to kill him for hurting my little brother and then I'll kill you for lying to me!" NEON retorts angrily and jabs a finger at him.

"First off, you're only a year older than me and Pyrrha. Secondly, when did I lie to you?" Gryphon looks at NEON a little taken aback since he rarely ever lied and even more rarely to NEON.

"A year ago when you told me you had tracked down the guys who had done it and dealt with them!" NEON reminds him angrily.

"I thought I had dealt with all of them. Besides I assumed the kid was dead long before that being the age he was in a gang like that," Gryphon tries to defend himself and Riktor but NEON doesn't seem to care.

"So you admit that it was Riktor that did it. Good, 'cause now I'm going to kill him!" NEON growls angrily and walks past Gryphon.

"No you're not. He had no choice and he regrets everything he did while in that gang. He deserves a second chance because deep down he is a good guy," Gryphon explains to NEON as he lifts the pint sized student off the ground by the back of his coat.

"Fine! But if he slips up once, I'll zap him 'till he is nothing more than ashes," NEON grumbles angrily accepting that Gryphon was no doubt right like usual.

"Thank you," Gryphon sets him down and they head back into the dining hall to join their friends before anyone suspects that something is up.

* * *

Later that day after the rest of their classes were over, Team SAFR returns to the dorm room for some well-deserved rest and they bid Team KNGT farewell for the evening. Riktor and Anna are at it again and it grinds on Spencer's last nerve. All day he has been trying to get them to get along and it seemed to be working until Riktor would say something and Anna would fly off the handle or vice versa.

"Oh here we go. You're just saying that because I'm a Faunus!" Anna hisses angrily at Riktor who rolls his eyes and scoffs. "What's so funny? I'm not here for your amusement, human!" She snaps in retort to his nonchalant response. Riktor's expression quickly turns to one of rage and Anna realizes she may have gone too far.

"You know what Anna if you really want me to act like the Faunus hating asshole you're accusing me of being then just say so. I WILL unleash a side of me so dark and cold-hearted it will make you regret EVER having pushed me down this road!" Riktor bellows angrily and slowly walks towards Anna. The confirmation that she had gone too far came in his tone. Riktor no longer had his typical carefree tone of voice. His words now resonated with an atmosphere of pure hatred as though he had become a monster incapable of any human emotion.

"Riktor! Take a walk!" Spencer jumps into the fight to end it once he notices the change in Riktor's behaviour. Faith who originally was ignoring the argument due to her headphones blaring was now watching intently since she had heard the yelling over her music. "Anna, just sit down and cool off," Spencer says to her as Riktor slams the door behind him on the way out. Spencer takes off out the door as well. Feeling really guilty, Anna climbs onto her bed and grabs the book from her night stand and starts reading it with tears in her eyes. Faith appears on the foot of her bed with a worried look on her face.

"I'll listen if you want to talk," she says softly with a small smile even though she was obviously nervous. She knew she had to do something for Anna. She needed someone to vent to, more than Faith wanted to stay secluded.

"I don't know why but he just makes me so angry when he's being sarcastic like that," Anna sighs wiping some of the tears from her face.

"Well he is kind of annoying, but I don't think he's used to being around people much or having friends for that matter," Faith replies sadly. Anna knew that she was probably right.

"I was a little harsher than I meant to be. I should go apologize to him," Anna sighs heavily and looks at the door as Spencer walks back in.

"Gryphon is trying to calm him down. Just wait to talk to him in the morning," Spencer informs the girl as he crosses the room to his bed.

"I'm sure if you give him some time, he'll get better at this friendship thing," Faith says with a reassuring smile. Anna manages a smile before she hugs Faith and thanks her for listening to her. Faith still being a very shy girl gets nervous by Anna's surprise hug and flickers away back to her own bed. Anna lays her head down on her pillow to try and get some sleep after such an intense day.


	8. Truth In Part

Gryphon returns to the dorm room after a brief chat with Riktor. He manages to calm his friend down but Riktor told him he wanted to have some time alone to think.

"Everything cool?" NEON asks and peers over the top of his 'Captain Remnant' comic book.

"For the time being, all is well," Gryphon assures him as he walks to his bed to continue relaxing like he was before they heard Riktor hollering.

"Good," Kyra interjects. "Now you're going to tell me why you and NEON ducked out of lunch to chat alone and why we, your team, couldn't hear it," Their team leader stands in the doorway of the bathroom pointing her toothbrush menacingly at the pair.

"I simply went to the washroom and caught up with NEON on the way back. I'm not sure why you would assume we ducked out to chat in private," Gryphon casually shrugs off Kyra's question still laying back on his bed with his eyes closed. Kyra turns her intimidating glare to NEON, knowing that he is probably the easier person to break between the two of them.

"Yeah Kyra, why would you assume we met up to talk? Like really, what would we talk about?" NEON replies nervously hiding his face behind the comic to avoid her malevolent stare. Gryphon groans knowing that NEON has just sunk them both.

"Spill it now NEON. How are we supposed to work as a team and trust each other if you two are keeping secrets from the rest of us!" Kyra growls angrily and snatches the comic from his hands.

"It's not like that Kyra. We just-" Gryphon tries to explain the situation but NEON cuts him off.

"Riktor used to be part of the Crimson Skull!" NEON blurts out and quickly tries to cover his mouth hoping that it would undo what everyone heard him say.

"My brother, the dumbest genius in all of Remnant," Gryphon cries out. The Faunus throws his pillow at the loud mouthed sibling striking him in the side of the head and knocking him over.

"Would you care to explain that one Gryphon, before I feel compelled to kill him?" Kyra snarls angrily. Tamara just sits in shock with what she had heard.

"Look if you went to kill him he'd probably just let you," Gryphon sighs heavily as he sits up on the bed. The rest of the team looks at him a little confused.

"Wait? What!" Tamara jumps off her bed to literally get into the conversation.

"He hates himself for being a part of the gang. He was raised by them from a really early age so he didn't have much choice in the matter. Gang life is all he knew," Gryphon begins to explain and Kyra sits down on the edge of her bed trying to comprehend what she was being told. "He told me earlier that he used to have a friend and he had recently learned that he was a Faunus. Riktor was trying to leave the gang but they drugged and kidnapped him after finding out about the Faunus. They forced him to watch as they tortured and killed his only friend," Gryphon continues. Everyone seems completely shocked by what they were hearing. "Now I hope that we all can keep this a secret until Riktor is able to tell his teammates!" Gryphon demands sternly as he looks around the room at his shocked and bewildered team. They all nod their heads in agreeance. "Thank you," Gryphon smiles as he lays back down on his bed.

* * *

Anna wakes up a few hours later at about one in the morning. She looks around the room and sees that Riktor's bed was still empty. With the use of her semblance she silently gets dressed and walks out of the room to go find him. _I hope he doesn't hate me too much because of our fight. Why did he get so violently angry when I accused him of hating Faunus? He had a look in his eyes like he wasn't even human anymore. Would he actually have gone through with it if Spencer hadn't stepped in? He told me in the forest that I had every right to hate him and I still don't understand why. Was this part of it? _Anna wanders into the courtyard that was just outside the school. She was thankful that she brought her hoodie because it was rather cool out. After a few minutes walking through the stone pathways she spots a figure sitting at the edge of a cliff overlooking the river and the city of Vale. It appeared like the person was throwing rocks into the water down below. There was a small popping sound every time they threw a rock so she knew it could only be Riktor. She slowly approaches him but doesn't conceal her presence with her semblance so as not to startle him with her sudden appearance in the dark. He turns his head slightly when he hears her footsteps but doesn't really look and continues to propel pebbles off the cliff.

"Mind if I sit with you?" she asks softly when she gets within a few feet of him.

"Can't sleep either huh?" Riktor asks motioning with his head for her to sit.

"No. There's too much on my mind lately," Anna sighs.

"I know that feeling," Riktor replies and launches another rock into the air but with more force this time.

"Want to talk about it? I'll tell you what's been bugging me and we can work all this out," Anna offers with a smile.

"It's pretty obvious that you just can't stand me, or at least it wouldn't surprise me if that were the case," Riktor retorts with an annoyed tone. Anna could tell that the comment wasn't exactly directed at her and that he was probably blaming himself for the arguments they've had over the last couple days.

"No actually, it's my mom, I really miss her," Anna sighs looking down at her feet. Riktor pauses, mid throw, to look at her in surprise.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I gather she isn't alive anymore?" he asks her as he tosses the rock aside and glances back towards her.

"She was killed a few years ago," Anna sniffles as she tries to fight back the tears that were starting to form in her eyes. She doesn't want anyone to see her cry because she feels it makes her look weak.

"Was she a huntress too?" Riktor hesitantly asks about to reach out and place a hand on her shoulder.

"Yeah, she was. She started teaching me how to use her weapon before she was killed on a mission," Anna explains how she came to possess the whip. She tenses up a bit when she feels Riktor's hand on her shoulder. Even though things have been incredibly abrasive between the two of them all day, she still feels a bit better at the small gesture.

"I think she'd be proud of you," Riktor attempts to reassure her and cheer her up. _Now don't screw this up Riktor. Just play it cool and you might make a new friend._

"Thanks, it really means a lot to hear that," Anna shows a small smile as she wipes some tears from her eyes. _Why can't he always be this nice?_

"Do you mind if I ask what her mission was?" Riktor asks cautiously not wanting to push too far.

"She was doing some reconnaissance due to increased Grimm activity when she was ambushed by a special group within the Crimson Skull. I can't remember the name of them," Anna explains. She didn't have to remember the name because Riktor already knew, and he was frozen in fear. He knew exactly what she was talking about and was almost recruited to go along on the 'kill a huntress' job.

"The Blood Legion. They're a private group of mercenaries in the gang. Basically just soulless killers that the Crimson Skull use to eradicate 'opposition'," Riktor says flatly. _Shit and things weren't tense before? I heard them brag about killing a huntress endlessly and now here I am with that same huntress' daughter._

"You've obviously heard of them," Anna directs her statement at him with a bit of surprise. She doesn't look up and because of that she never sees Riktor's devastated expression.

"I was raised by the streets, so yeah I've heard of them. I'm... I'm sorry," Riktor mutters. _I might as well just kill myself! There is no way she's ever going to trust me when I tell her about my past!_

"It's not your fault, but thank you for saying that," Anna smiles leaning closer to hug Riktor but hesitates and pulls back.

"So what's been bothering you?" Anna asks him. Riktor knows he can't tell her everything but he has to tell her something. She had just trusted him with very personal information, it's only right that he should put some trust in her and try to get some of the weight off his chest.

"A few weeks ago, before I came to Beacon, the Crimson Skull took the life of the first and only friend I ever had right before my eyes," Riktor exhales as the painful words come from his mouth.

"Oh my god, Riktor, I'm so sorry! I had no idea. I've been such a bitch towards you," Anna apologizes profusely.

"It's fine, really. I know I'm not the easiest person to deal with even on the best of days. I'm not even used to having close friends, or friends at all for that matter," Riktor waves his hand to slough off the apology.

"Didn't you have any friends growing up?" Anna pries even though she could tell Riktor was uncomfortable with the conversation.

"Like I said, I grew up on the streets. There wasn't anyone you could trust but yourself. So no, I didn't have friends, other than Carlyle and I met him just a few years ago," Riktor carefully chooses his words so that he doesn't reveal the fact that he used to be part of the Crimson Skull.

"I know you have something you that you're hiding" Anna digs for more information from him while trying to be consoling. She places her hand on his knee in hopes that the contact would coax a response from him. Riktor shifts awkwardly at her touch and looks away from her. His thoughts race to all the reasons why he can't give her the answers she's looking for. "Riktor please just talk to me. We are teammates now, you can tell me anything, I just want to help you," Anna pushes a little harder. Riktor jumps up and starts to walk away from her.

"No Anna! I can't! I really can't. Maybe one day but not now!" Riktor snaps and walks away from the girl that had been following him. She just stands there with a look of defeat on her face.

"I'm sorry…"Anna relinquishes. _I really hope I didn't just ruin our whole team because of this._ She sits down on a bench just outside the school regretting how much she dug for information. _This whole night is just so stressful. I better get some sleep and hopefully things will be a little bit brighter in the morning._


	9. A Shocking Conclusion

As the first week of school winds down the students find themselves in combat class. They reach the training room for another day of sparring, though Riktor and Gryphon feel quite confident that they won't be called on since they had their chance earlier that week.

"Do I have any volunteers or am I going to have to force people like I did last time?" Ms. Goodwitch asks the class once everyone settled down and had stopped talking.

"I'll take a shot" Anna raises her hand in the air.

"Good, anyone else interested?" Goodwitch asks the class.

"I suppose I'll have a go," a tall young man with long green hair stands up. He looks over and smiles at Anna before heading to the locker room with Anna close behind. A few minutes later the two emerge from the locker room, armoured up, and take their places opposite each other in the arena. Anna uncoils the whip from her belt it produces a soft rattling hissing noise as she twirls it around. Her opponent crosses his arms. His irises glow slightly and he shifts his eyes around the room before smirking at her causing a feeling of uneasiness to well up in the pit of her stomach. Anna shakes her head in an attempt to clear the doubts that have arisen.

"Anna Castle versus Ivan Pinebranch, begin," Goodwitch bellows and Anna cracks her whip a few times. Ivan, the long, green-haired teen, just stands there with his arms still crossed and smiling. Anna looks a little confused because Ivan had yet to draw his weapon that was strapped across his back but she decides not to wait for him to launch his attack first. She cracks her whip a few times firing bullets shoot from the tip of the weapon. Ivan tilts his head from side to side and easily dodges the shots that were fired at him. His face shows the same gentle smile as his eyes scan the room almost seeming to look right past Anna. The Faunus looks more confused than ever after the relaxed way he dodged the bullets. She snaps the whip and fires several more shots to see if Ivan was just lucky or if he really knew where she was going to shoot. Ivan uses as little effort as possible to move out of the path of the bullets such as lifting his foot, tilting his head, and leaning a bit to the right.

_He must be predicting my shots. I'm going to have to switch up my tactics and get in close._ Anna darts forward and Ivan grabs the giant war fan off his back and opens it up in front of him with one swift motion. A large gust of wind stops Anna dead in her tracks and knocks her over backwards. Anna gets off another shot as she is falling back. Ivan had already stepped behind the fan to dodge her attack. With Ivan behind his weapon Anna seizes the moment to jump forward and attack him from above. Not thinking to use her semblance to silence her steps, Ivan braces his shoulder against the fan, listens for her jump, and pushes his weapon out. Anna collides with the fan and is knocked back several feet. Hearing her hit the ground, Ivan sends another powerful gust of wind at the girl and sliding Anna further across the arena floor. He surges forward with the fan trailing behind him as Anna pulls herself to her feet. Ivan swipes horizontally with the fan but Anna rolls under the razor sharp edges of it. Snapping her wrist while rolling, she wrapped her whip around Ivan's ankle. She pulls hard as she stands up and he falls flat on the floor. She takes the opportunity of him on the ground to fire a few shots at him but he quickly covers himself with the fan to block the bullets. Ivan rises to his feet, still staring straight through Anna, before raising the fan up in front of him like a shield. Charging at Anna, he anticipates that she will jump up and over him and begins to angle his weapon up to guard against an attack from above. Anna quickly side steps the attack at the last possible second and grabs his neck with her whip and she yanks him backwards toward the ground again. Ivan crashes to the ground, his fan slips from his fingers and he lays there for a few seconds, slightly disoriented. Anna flips over him landing on his chest pulling the whip tightly so he couldn't breathe.

"Do you yield?" Anna asks, Ivan's stoic face turning red. He calmly taps Anna's leg with his hand and she releases him.

"The victor is Anna Castle!" Goodwitch calls out. "You two go get cleaned up after you are back we will be starting one last match today," she explains to Ivan and Anna. Anna smiles and holds out her hand to help Ivan up. He coughs loudly as he grabs her hand and she pulls him up. Ivan grabs his fan, folds it up, and returns it to his back before rubbing his neck.

"Good fight," Anna says to Ivan.

"You too," he replies as the pair walk toward the locker room to change as quickly as possible.

"How were you able to dodge my shots so easily?" Anna calls out from the ladies half of the locker room after a quick shower.

"My semblance is based on probability. It allows me to see about five different ghost images of possible out comes to a situation within my field of vision and I can devise a plan to combat as many of those as I'm able," Ivan explains while drying off from his own shower before putting his school uniform back on.

"Sounds kinda like a visual version of counting cards. That must make you a pretty decent poker player then, right?" Anna chuckles loudly and hangs her whip on a hook in her locker once she finished dressing.

"What's poker?" he laughs in return.

"It's just a card game. By the way why don't you join us for lunch tomorrow? My team and team KNGT are spending the day hanging out. Maybe bring the rest of your team too?" Anna remarks as she finishes adjusting her uniform, closes the locker, and heads for the door.

"I'll have to see what the girls think about that, but they sure could use some more friends to pester instead of just me," Ivan says as they walk back to the combat room.

* * *

"We have time for one last match today if anyone is interested?" Goodwitch offers the class as they settle back into their seats after the short break.

"I would like to have a match Ms. Goodwitch," Kyra states and gets to her feet.

"Thank you Ms. Viola," Glynda nods and looks over the rest of the class to see if there are any other volunteers. With a sharp poke in the side from Anna, Faith squeals and nearly jumps out of her seat.

"Ms. Everlight, I appreciate the enthusiasm," she remarks on the girl's sudden outburst. "Both of you please go get prepared for the match."

"But I…" Faith says but her voice is too quiet to hear. After a couple minutes, the two girls step out on to the arena floor in their combat gear. Kyra draws her two swords and unwinds the chain wrapped around her connecting them by their pommels. Faith follows suit and extracts her sword from its sheathe before taking a defensive stance.

"Alright, Kyra Viola versus Faith Everlight, ready? Fight!" Goodwitch calls out and the girls jump into action. Kyra swings her swords with both grace and precision lunging toward Faith. Even with Kyra's relentless force, Faith seems to be just one step out of reach with every attack.

_How is this possible? I was trained by some of the top military combatants and this girl is not only able to keep up with me but stay out of my reach?_ Kyra ponders to herself as Faith strikes back with a short barrage. With every clash of their swords a small spark is produced. Kyra takes note of the electricity and how it seems to travel down the blade and into her hand. _It feels like a static shock from rubbing your feet on a carpet, hardly worth concerning myself with. The flashes on the other hand could be from lightning dust infused into her sword. That would explain the yellow finish and the lightning bolt shaped blade._ While Kyra is trying to figure out the situation Faith vanishes without a trace. Everyone in the room gasps in shock at the sudden disappearance of their classmate. Kyra scans the arena but doesn't see her opponent anywhere. A solid kick to Kyra's back causes her to stumble forward. She quickly spins around and slashes at Faith with her swords. _The distance between us is close enough for me to have definitely hit her. I should have sliced her clean in two but she's standing there without a scratch. There isn't even a drop of blood on my swords._ Faith's appearance begins to flicker rapidly and then she disappears again making Kyra wonder if she was ever there to begin with. Faith appears to the side of Kyra and strikes her in the chest with a heavy roundhouse kick. Once again Kyra stumbles back a few steps still a little clueless about what is happening. _I shouldn't be having this many problems! _Faith rushes forwards and swings her sword. Kyra blocks the attack with one sword and swipes at Faith with the other. The blonde anticipates this and vanishes again. Faith begins to rapidly teleport around with her semblance, only slashing once before jumping away. _Each time she teleports and reappears there is a soft crackling noise, almost like radio static._ Once Kyra realizes the flaw in Faith's strategy, she begins to listen for the noise to judge where the girl will reappear. Kyra slowly begins to pick up on Faith's pattern of movement and starts to block her rapid strikes as she teleports in and out. Kyra takes a chance and swiftly turns around after blocking a downward slash and thrusts her foot forward. Kyra's boot makes contact with Faith's stomach and sends her flying onto her back. Faith quickly recovers by teleporting a few feet back to compose herself and smiles at Kyra.

"You're the first to beat that tactic of mine," Faith comments with bated breath.

"You're one of the few to make me break a sweat in quite a long time," Kyra accepts the compliment and offers one in return.

Faith runs the fingertips of her free hand along the flat part of her blade and the sword begins to glow and arc with lightning. Faith strikes the air aiming the sword at Kyra. An intense bolt of lightning shoots out of the sword. Being quick on her feet, Kyra throws her swords at Faith to absorb the lightning before the blast hits her. The swords fly past Faith on either side of her and the chain between them catches her, dragging her back from the sheer force of the throw. Faith is pinned to the wall and shrieks loudly as the electricity discharges into her. The swords and chain hold the girl up against the wall and she is knocked unconscious from the massive electric shock. Goodwitch quickly uses her telekinesis to rip the swords out of the wall. Kyra and her run to the unresponsive girl as she falls to the floor. Spencer and Riktor jump over the railing and onto the arena floor. Spencer joins Goodwitch and Kyra by Faith's side to see if she is ok while Riktor walks over and picks up Kyra's swords to ensure all the lightning energy had left the weapons. His muscles twitch slightly as jolts of energy shoot into his body but his semblance dulls the pain and damage.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" Kyra cries out as Goodwitch checks for a pulse.

"Hush girl! She has a pulse and is breathing. She's just knocked out from the electricity," Goodwitch reassures the young lady with tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Ms. Goodwitch, I'll take her to the infirmary, if that's alright," Spencer asks and she nods. Spencer loops one arm under her legs and supports her back with the other as he lifts her up.

"I'd like to accompany him if that's alright?" Kyra asks wiping the tears from her face.

"Yes that's fine," Goodwitch replies.

"Just let me grab my swords and I'll catch up," Kyra calls to Spencer. Riktor walks over and holds out her swords with a smile but Kyra returns a look of confusion. "Those should've still been charged," she remarks.

"Not much left in them, besides a little lightning can't hurt me," he chuckles as she takes the swords from his hands and chases after Spencer.

"Is she alright?" Anna calls leaning on the railing of the bleachers with a concerned look.

"She's perfectly fine, just had her brains scrambled a bit. She's a tough girl," Riktor reassure her as he clambers back up to the seats. _Even though there wasn't much charge left in the swords, I can only imagine how much Faith got hit with._ Riktor's thoughts are cut off by Goodwitch addressing the class and dismissing everyone for the weekend.


	10. A Rude Awakening

The Saturday morning sun illuminates the curtain by NEON's bed. He wakes up, gets out of bed in just a pair of pyjama pants and puts on his coat along with one of his gauntlets. He wanders over to the kitchenette before grabbing a box of cereal and pouring it into a stone cooking bowl he brought from home. NEON pours the milk into the bowl and sets it on the counter. He steps back and around the corner after aiming his gauntlet at the bowl of cereal. Fire jumps out of the tip of one of his fingers and begins to cook the bowl of cereal. Due to NEON having his face around the corner to avoid looking at the fire, he is unable to see exactly where he is aiming and quickly a bright glow shines around the corner accompanying a rather intense heat.

"FIRE! THE FUCKING KITCHEN IS ON FIRE!" NEON bellows loudly as he sprints for the door, fumbles with the knob and bolts down the hallway. The rest of team KNGT is violently woken up by their screaming teammate. Gryphon reaches under his bed for a fire extinguisher and quickly steps into the kitchen area. He sprays the area to put out the inferno.

"What the fuck was that?" Kyra barks as she appears at the corner of the kitchenette. Gryphon turns to see her wearing nothing but a pair of panties and her uniform shirt that is mostly buttoned up.

"As I'm sure you know NEON is an idiot," Gryphon remarks trying not to stare. He walks over and begins scrapping the charred remains out of the bowl and into the sink.

"I gathered that much already. What was he trying to do!?" Kyra's tone becoming more and more annoyed as the seconds tick by.

"Well, like his strange personality, NEON has a strange appetite and he likes to heat up his cereal," Gryphon begins to explain still trying to avoid looking at his half-dressed team leader. Kyra continues to glare at him waiting for the rest of the explanation. "The issue with this is that NEON is scarred shitless of fire," Gryphon snickers slightly as he follows Kyra back to the beds. _Don't let her catch you staring at her legs. Please don't let her catch you staring at her legs._ Kyra turns and almost catches him checking her out. She furrows her brow unsure whether or not to believe NEON would really do something that ridiculous. "He had a bad experience with fire when he was younger so he has a hard time looking at it without panicking. However he still tries to make use of fire dust," Gryphon concludes his explanation, fishing out a pair of jeans to wear for the day off.

"Is there anything else I should know about him?" Kyra inquires sternly going to her own dresser to find clothes to put on. Gryphon's attempts to look away are mostly effective, though he couldn't help from glancing over a couple times.

"Yeah, his semblance gives him the ability to force different types of dust into a new 'form of dust' so to speak. The new dust can have properties from both of the base dusts or turn out to be totally unique. Pretty sure he learned his lesson, but we have to make sure he isn't mixing too many together at once." Gryphon warns her with a serious tone. Kyra realizes that Gryphon's playful tone had disappeared.

"Unstable?" she guesses turning around once she finishes straightening out her t-shirt and meets Gryphon's hard gaze.

"Very unstable. He blew up half the school when he tried to do too many at once and he told me he'd never do it again. But knowing him, he will eventually try it again at some point," Gryphon tells her. The room door opens and NEON's head pokes in.

"Is… is it gone?" he asks timidly after noticing Kyra's death glare.

"You're lucky I don't just kill you on general principal. Go clean up the kitchen!" Kyra hollers and NEON jumps into action, quickly running to the kitchen to start working.

"Tamara, you might as well get up too. We all have to get ready since it's almost lunch time and meet up with SAFR," Kyra says in the direction of Tamara's bed.

"I already am Princess," Tamara giggles sweetly poking her head out from the bathroom.

"I told you to stop calling me that!" Kyra growls angrily though her face had turned a slight shade of pink. There is a knock on the door. Gryphon opens it and Riktor pops his head in the room and looks around.

"What was with all the yelling and why does it smell like the Kellogg's factory burned down?" Riktor asks since his team's dorm is across the hall and they all heard NEON's yelling.

"NEON tried to burn down the kitchen while he cooked a bowl of cereal!" Kyra growls angrily. "I'm going to get a coffee, I'll meet you guys down in the cafeteria for lunch," she finishes and walks out the door. Riktor steps aside to get out of Kyra's way. Riktor is at a loss for words from the very brief explanation of the day's events and looks over at the giant Faunus who just chuckles at him.

"She's in a bad mood from being woken up by the screaming. I'd stay out of her way if I were you," Gryphon warns him.

"She's kinda hot when she's pissed off," Riktor chuckles, and sends a quick message to his teammates about what was going on and to meet at the cafeteria.

"She'd kill you faster than Goodwitch would, but yeah I'd have to agree with you," Gryphon laughs the two bump fists.

"What do you think Tamara?" Gryphon asks since she had come out of the bathroom from getting ready.

"Um yeah sure I guess? Maybe?" Tamara replies nervously and starts blushing more, feeling her face getting hot she turns invisible and takes off down the hallway. "I'll see you guys down there," she calls back. Gryphon and Riktor just stare down the hallway quite confused at her behaviour.

"Is it normal for her to get shy and bashful like that?" Riktor inquires. "She seemed pretty flirtatious the other day."

"Exactly, it's so weird for her to get like that. I thought she was always a flirty person," Gryphon remarks, very curious himself as to why she has suddenly been so strange.

"You guys go on ahead, I'm going to head down to the library after I finish with the kitchen, got some reading to catch up on," NEON calls from behind the corner. The other two acknowledge and make their way out of the room and down the hall. NEON leaves the room only minutes after them having cleaned up all he could.

* * *

After sending a quick message to Ivan, Anna heads down the hall to team LILA's room to meet up with him. Riktor and Gryphon spot them and quickly head over to them. Before they have a chance to introduce themselves they all hear a high pitched squeal coming from the other end of the hall by the stairs.

"IVAN!" two brown haired girls yell loudly as they run over and nearly tackle him to the ground. They each take a side and give him a big kiss on the cheek. The other three just stand and stare, completely at a loss for words. Ivan just looks at the two girls on either side of him with signs of endearment sketched on their faces.

"Calm down you two. You know you don't need to jump on me all the time," Ivan remarks.

"Of course we don't NEED to, but it's so much fun," one of them chuckles.

"Well at any rate, these are some of the people we are going to be having lunch with," Ivan mentions to them as he points towards Anna, Gryphon, and Riktor.

"This is gunna be fun! Oh and Abby said she was skipping lunch to do some studying in the library," the other chimes in and giggles slightly.

"Alright, I guess if that's what she wants to do," he replies. "Oh sorry, these two are Lily and Lacy," Ivan comments and points at the identical twins on either side of him.

"Nice to meet you two, I'm Anna and these guys are Riktor and Gryphon. Riktor is on my team and Gryphon belongs to team KNGT," Anna introduces them, and the guys give a small wave.

"So you had said your other teammate is in the library? Hopefully she doesn't run into NEON," Gryphon chuckles as they all head down the hall way. Lacy wraps her arm around one of Lily's and they skip along ahead of the others.

"I'd be more concerned if he ran into her. She can be quite the handful," Ivan snickers slightly.

"Don't be mean Ivan, she's a sweet girl!" Lily scolds pointing a finger at him.

"Wait, so you mean to tell me that there are two nut cases in the library as we speak?" Gryphon inquires, sounding a little worried.

"I fear for the people in the library," Riktor's hearty laugh fills the halls. Anna rolls her eyes at them as Gryphon gives him a high five thinking that they are like children.

* * *

NEON slowly wanders down the rows of books trying to find something that he hasn't read yet regarding dust composition when he suddenly he bumps into something soft.

"Oh shit! I'm so sor…." he begins to apologize when he sees that he bumped into a girl with wavy brown hair. She looks over at him and everything he had been thinking disappears as he stares into her big blue eyes.

"OH MY GOD! YOUR HAIR IS AMAZING!" she shrieks loudly and starts to run her fingers through his thick multi-colored hair. He steps back and swats her hands away from the top of his head. He looks a little weirded out as she jumps up and down squealing like a deranged fan girl.

"Um? Are you ok?" he asks as he slowly backs away from the girl.

"I'M INCREDIBLE! I HAVE NEVER SEEN HAIR LIKE YOURS AND IT'S SO SOFT! I bet it smells awesome, can I smell it?" the girl asks him with an over excited look on her face edging closer to him.

"I um…?" NEON struggles to come up with words to say and continues backing away. NEON bolts out of the library at full speed, a look of terror painted across his face with his pursuer right behind him.

"Don't run away cutie pie! Come back and let me love your hair!" the girl shouts chasing him down the hallway.

"GRYPHON! HELP ME! SHE'S CRAZY!" NEON shouts loudly as he passes the group. Gryphon busts a gut laughing at him as they zip around the corner. Ivan's only reply is a shake of his head and a heavy sigh.

"Ah cheer up buddy, NEON is always driving everyone nuts so it's a nice change of pace," Gryphon wipes the tears from his eyes and pats Ivan on the shoulder.

"Apparently he set their room on fire this morning," Riktor smiles.

"So is that what Riktor looks like when he is running from Spencer's older sister?" Anna asks Gryphon with a snicker. Riktor immediately stops laughing and glares at his partner.

"You're so funny Anna," Riktor remarks sarcastically. They all turn into the cafeteria where Spencer and Kyra are sitting down at a table with Tamara, but Faith was nowhere to be seen. They all dish up and walk over to the table.

"Still no Faith?" Riktor asks Spencer.

"There's a couple more things the doctors wanna check out. She should be cleared soon, maybe even in time for lunch," Spencer informs them before noticing three more people sitting at the table than normal.

"Who are they?" Spencer asks.

"Oh right this is Ivan, he's the one who fought against Anna yesterday," Riktor jumps in and munches on some potatoes.

"Hi, this is Lily and that's Lacy. Lily is our team leader. Our other teammate isn't here right now, I think she's still chasing NEON," Ivan comments and puts his hand out to shake Spencer's.

"Well we'll meet her eventually if you hang around us long enough," Kyra chimes in with a smile. NEON bolts into the cafeteria and quickly dishes up before running over to the table to hide. He sits in between Gryphon and Kyra with a terrified look on his face already diving into his plate.

"Did you lose her NEON?" Gryphon asks him with a big smile on his face.

"I think so! That chick is bat shit crazy!" his words muffled by mouthfuls of food after already getting halfway through the plate in front of him.


	11. What to Do

NEON feels something soft press against his back, fingers running through his hair, and a nose coming in contact with the top of his head.

"It does smell amazing!" the girl states happily as NEON looks like someone just threw up on him. The girl continues to run her fingers through his vibrant hair.

"Abby, leave the poor guy alone and eat some food," Ivan urges her. Gryphon shuffles over so there is room for her to sit next to NEON and she accepts it graciously sitting right up against the object of her new found interest. He glares at Gryphon angrily as Abby starts eating some food quietly.

"I'm Abigail by the way. Everyone just usually calls me Abby though," she smiles at everyone. "Except you! You can call me whatever you want," Abby winks at NEON and lightly strokes his face. He tries to ignore her and eat his food but the constant snickering from Riktor and Gryphon was starting to get to the poor tortured soul. Tamara looks to her right and catches a giggle leave Kyra's mouth only to be replaced with a small smirk. _Oh man, she is just so adorable. I wish I could leave a smirk like that on her face, or a smile. Yeah a smile would be waaay better. She might even start to like me, or what if she already does? We could hold hands and curl up to watch a movie, then she leans over and we are just inches apart, and her lips hover over mine and she closes her eyes and… OH GOD!_

"Tamara? Where did you disappear to?" Anna asks and starts trying to reach for her in the spot she was sitting in. "Oh there you are!" Anna states cheerfully as her hand lands on something solid.

"I think I'd prefer dinner before I let someone squeeze my boobs, but I'll make an exception cause you're cute," Tamara chuckles as she reappears and Anna sees that she indeed had her hand on Tamara's breast.

"AH! I'm so sorry," Anna shrieks, tuning red in the face from the embarrassment, and jumps nearly all the way onto Riktor's lap. He barely has time to catch her and steady himself on the bench.

"Woah, careful Anna! If you really wanted to sit on my lap, you could've just asked," Riktor laughs at the freaked out Faunus girl in his arms. Anna immediately starts blushing even more at his joke.

"What's going on?" Faith asks quietly as she walks up beside Spencer.

"Hey Faith! How you feeling?" Spencer asks happily, speaking up after being silent the whole time.

"I'm better I guess. So can you explain who the girl terrorizing NEON is, what Anna is doing in Riktor's arms, and what Kyra and Tamara find so funny," Faith asks again taking the seat on the other side of Spencer and Riktor.

"The girl is Abby and she seems to really like NEON and his hair. She's on a team with Ivan. He sparred with Anna yesterday. Anna jumped into Riktor's arms because Tamara turned invisible and Anna accidentally, umm, well she kind of, uh, grabbed Tamara…" Spencer struggles through the explanation to the quiet girl while she sips on some tea. Anna moves back to her seat, her face still very red which she tries to hide with her long hair.

"I'd love too spar with you again sometime Faith, but maybe we should cut down on the lightning a bit," Kyra states with a smile after managing to compose herself.

"I enjoyed it and you are pretty good. I could probably learn a lot from you," Faith praises Kyra with a big smile.

"You were pretty good yourself. I've never had such a tough fight," Kyra compliments the blonde girl who smiles and blushes at the praise.

"Hey Moss-Head? Ya mind helping me with this crazy chick?" NEON asks Ivan while Abby is still hanging off him and playing with his hair.

"I wouldn't be able to stop her if I wanted. Besides, a comment like that makes me less inclined to help alleviate you of this predicament you've found yourself in," Ivan snickers as Abby continues to torment NEON. Groaning, he rolls his eyes and finally gives up.

* * *

After a long day of hanging out and relaxing, each in their own way, Riktor decides to go for a walk to be alone with his thoughts. _I really just don't know if I should keep this secret or if I should tell the rest of my team about my past._

"Oi Ricky! What's with the nasty scowl on your face?" Gryphon hollers from behind.

"I hate when people call me that," Riktor groans and continues to walk through the slowly emptying some hallways. Gryphon easily catches up to him with his long strides.

"Whoa, just trying to chat dude. No need to bite my head off because you're angry," Gryphon retorts trying to defuse the situation before it got out of hand.

"Sorry man, I've got a major issue right now and I don't know how to handle it," Riktor sighs in an attempt to quell his anger.

"Still haven't told your team yet?" Gryphon asks after quickly sorting out what Riktor meant.

"It's not just that Gryphon, Anna and I talked the other night and now I can never let her find out!" Riktor barks becoming more and more frantic.

"What did you do this time?" Gryphon sighs heavily knowing that the two of them are often at each other's throats.

"HEY, I didn't do anything! We were actually having a nice chat for once. Well that was until she told me something I could've gone the rest of my life without ever hearing," Riktor snaps back.

"Riktor, stop with the vague bullshit and just tell me what's going on," Gryphon commands. He knew Riktor was either stalling or just didn't want to say but Gryphon wasn't going to give up on the subject.

"Her mother was killed by a group of guys in The Crimson Skull called The Blood Legion," Riktor blurts out quickly in one breath so he could get it over with and hopefully never have to say those words again.

"That's awful. Were you involved? Did you help them kill her?" Gryphon asks matter-of-factly ignoring Riktor's state of panic catching the berserker off guard.

"What? No! I had no part in that but I was still part of the gang," Riktor continues to panic despite Gryphon's stoick attitude.

"Look, there's nothing to worry about. You didn't do it and you have no connection to the gang anymore. You said you aren't that person," Gryphon continues trying to get through Riktor's thick skull.

"Gryphon, you don't get what I'm saying..." Riktor starts to argue but he is interrupted by the large Faunus grabbig him by the collar.

"No, Riktor, you're the one who's not understanding! Come with me," Gryphon snaps and drags Riktor down a hallway towards Team LILA's dorm room and knocks on the door. There is some shuffling noises from behind the door and one of the twins answers. "Is Ivan here?"

"Ivan's a bit busy, can I take a message?" Lily asks with a sweet smile. Gryphon and Riktor both notice that the young lady seemed to be hiding halfway behind the door and that her bare shoulder was visible.

"I need some help setting Riktor straight and you seemed like the best guy to talk to. It's pretty important," Gryphon calls into the room.

"As much as I enjoy cuddling and watching movies, the guys need me. Lacy, you've got to get off me. I'll be out in a few seconds, just gotta get dressed," they hear Ivan say from within the room. A squeal erupts from the dorm followed by giggling.

"I'm Lily, she's Lacy!" the twin that couldn't be seen by the boys at the door cries out. Ivan is heard shuffling around and getting dressed while the other girl at the door wanders back into the room.

"No you're not. Lacy, you've got the heart tattoo and Lily, you have the unicorn tattoo. Try and behave while I'm out?" Ivan's exasperated words float toward the bed as he appears in the doorway to meet the confused faces of his friends. "I'll explain later, let's just… take a walk somewhere," Ivan says and shakes his head. The three of them stroll off down through the hallways and out to the courtyard before Gryphon begins to fill Ivan in on the situation.

"You've heard of the Crimson Skull, right?" Gryphon quietly asks Ivan despite knowing already what the answer would be since just about everyone knows of them.

"Yes, I know about them. I had a run in with them about a year ago," Ivan says solemnly, a look of shame painted across the young man's face.

"Well I used to be one," Riktor finally speaks up.

"That is a bit surprising. You don't strike me as the kind of person capable of such atrocities," Ivan's shock is very apparent to the other two. _Usually I'm pretty spot on for determining someone's character. I never expected to be quite this wrong._ Riktor was speechless, just standing there waiting for the hatred to flow forth from the green-haired, young man in front of him.

"Alright so now the real issue is Riktor hasn't told his team about his past yet and he's worried that they won't accept him once they know," Gryphon jumps in to continue the conversation knowing Riktor wasn't going to say anything.

"Especially Anna, right?" Ivan spots the pattern, and pieces things together.

"Considering she's a Faunus, and she's had problems with them in the past, AND they killed her mother, yeah," Riktor panics while explaining his point of view. Ivan closes his eyes and takes a deep breath before returning to the conversation.

"Listen Riktor. I don't know what you did while you were apart of the gang, frankly I'd rather not know, but you aren't that person anymore. Your teammates will understand, you just need to talk to them. Regardless of what happens you can still come talk to Gryphon or I and if need be we can talk to them after to help smooth things out," Ivan's words help soothe Riktor's anxiety. He knows he needs to face this problem head on. _They do have a right to know._ Riktor concedes to himself.

"Thanks Ivan, and sorry for not listening to you from the start Gryphon, " Riktor apologizes with a heavy sigh. _Whether or not I am the monster I believe I am, I need to at least cage this up and sort it out._


End file.
